Why Is Sarah Palin Associating with the For-Profit Tea Party Nation?

The tea party movement has matured enough that it has formed offshoots. Different tea party leaders had one set of ideas in this town, state, and even the country, and another set of tea party leaders had another set of ideas. Some groups are focusing on grooming candidates. Some are focusing on exposing corruption. And, with time, things are bound to change even more. The movement is young. It is still evolving.

Unfortunately, some of the players seem self-interested rather than country-interested. A good libertarian would say self-interest is country-interest. And I might agree … to a point. However, the tea party movement generally has not been a for-profit venture most places until now with the upcoming Tea Party Nation Convention in Tennessee, and many local and national organizers and local grassroots activists are distancing themselves from this movement.

The following Monday, Judson went on air for a radio interview with Ralph Bristol, the talk radio host slotted before DelGiorno in the schedule. Bristol asked Judson about the donation box on the website; I assume in order to help boost donations. If people knew how the money was being used, they would be more likely to contribute. The host also asked in a leading manner, This is set up as a non-profit, of course. Judson’s answer was that he’d decided to set it up as a for-profit corporation, and that the majority of the donations would be for “paying our web designer.” I didn’t find out about this train wreck of an interview until the following Wednesday night, but this certainly explained why donations slowed to a trickle on Monday. For-profit, are you kidding me?!

This was not what our group planned, and in talking with other members of the leadership, this is not what we wanted to happen. Sure enough, the filing was effective for the for-profit Tea Party Nation Corporation on April 21, 2009, the day after Judson’s interview with Ralph Bristol, and Judson filed the papers such that he was the sole owner of Tea Party Nation.

By the time I found out, it was a done deal. I pleaded with Judson to change this. He agreed to hear concerns but made clear that he was now the owner of Tea Party Nation. He would be making the decisions. Judson’s asinine reasoning for the for-profit status was that Obama would do away with non-profits in 2009 or 2010. (I’m not sure where he conjured that idea, but even if it were true, it would still have been in our best interest and in the best interest of the movement for our group to have been formed as a non-profit. To my understanding, it was not at all legal to solicit and accept donations as a for-profit corporation.) He wrote, “The founders of facebook [sic] not only use their website to support the causes they believe in, they use the wealth they have created to do the same. We need to even the playing field.” However, Tea Party Nation and Facebook are two completely different entities — at least they should be, given that one of the two organizations received its start-up capital from middle-class donors who believed they were contributing to a movement and its labor from volunteers believing they were donating their time to an effort to restore the Republic.

A for-profit tea party group? Why? To what end? There are downsides. Paying taxes on money that could be spent for activist purposes makes no sense. The lack of transparency in a for-profit group causes donors to be concerned, too, and would seem to be an inhibition to growth. There is much more at the link. I recommend that you read Mr. Smith’s entire account.

When I started fishing around last week, talking to different tea party organizers (some who had split from others, even), the response was universal. First, no one wanted to talk on the record for fear of enraging the Palinistas. Second, no one had good things to say about Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation, if they knew him at all.

One source told me: “I think [fill-in-the-blank] person is involved.” I’d contact that person, who would deny involvement and then give me another name. The cycle continued. I talked to people in Nashville. I talked to people associated with grassroots training. No one could say a good word about Judson’s outfit. And no one wanted to say anything on the record.

Glenn Reynolds, a Tennessee resident, says, “Well, I had planned to cover the Tea Party convention in Nashville next month for PJTV, but nobody’s responded to my emails, and now I hear it’ll be closed to the press. Oh, well. People want to know what I think about this event; so far, not that much. We’ll see.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement from a local guy and tea party champion.

Good Lord, Mrs. Clouthier, when did you become a collectivist? Since when do we all have to do the same thing at the same time?

By attaching herself to this for-profit outfit, Sarah Palin undermines her standing with her very constituents.

What constituents? Do you mean her base of admirers? Do you think their trust in her judgment and her character is so tenuous that they’d regard her appearance at this for-profit convention as being the complete and irremediable betrayal of the principles she’s articulated up to now?

Still, I can’t help but imagine that participating in the Tax Day Tea Party being planned in D.C. on April 15 or some other non-profit event around the country would have been more in the keeping with the spirit of the movement.

If the movement has a spirit, it’s individual freedom. To respect that spirit requires that you respect others’ choices about how best to serve the cause. And do please remember: for Sarah Heath Palin to appear at the event you deplore does not constitute a binding or eternal commitemtnt to the organizers.

If you dislike the idea of associating yourself with this for-profit group, that’s your business. But it ill serves the conservative movement to insist that everyone should follow the star you’ve chosen for yourself.

Preface by saying I’m conservative and voted for the McCain/Palin ticket, inasmuch as I would not vote Obama’s cabal.

I watched a segment of Mrs. Palin on Bill O’s show and then watched a couple of segments of her on Glenn B’s show yesterday. While the western hemisphere appropriately was focused on the catastrophe unfolding in Haiti these two (G.B. & S.P.) blah, blah, blah’d about their self-absorbed victim complex. These little love-fests (particularly G.B.’s) stuff is pure poison and reflects hideously on conservatives everywhere. It was simply painful to watch either of them.

She still is not able to adequately verbalize her ideas, resulting in everything that comes out of her mouth sounding like something she read somewhere or heard someone else say. Early on I actually liked her – thought she was a fresh face. You can like that freshness all you want but she better find a little polish before she spends much time in front of the camera.

A non-profit organization must be non-political, that is the law. Ms. Coulthier should know this. So in order to keep from being scrutinized, investigated and persecuted by the IRS and the Justice Department they become a for-profit organization. Then they can criticize and advocate freely. It does not mean they are trying to con people out of money or obtain money for gross personal use.

Profit and individual free enterprise are not evil goals and do not disqualify a leader from moral and ethical authority.

Sarah Palin and TEA party organizations are in the process of recreating the political party rules for those parties that failed to be the effective opposition to radical socialism and statism.

Conservatives should have learned by now that money is the most effective weapon that Marxists use against liberty. Sarah Palin has experienced the use of unlimited funds of foreign origin being used against her in frivolous legal actions.

For profit is nothing more than generating the ability to defend against socialists more effectively, and require conservative principles be incorporated into the core, foundation, and operation of the Republican Party in replacement of the liberal socialist, Republican In Name Only, big government current policy.

This is just one more bounce of the old question of who will be the leader of the tea party “movement”? The question is misplaced, because it assumes that the tea party “movement” is something that needs a national leader.

Local tea parties certainly need local leaders, and they have found them. As always, people with leadership talent coming out of the wood works because the circumstances arouse their personal aspirations. But why should the local tea parties be consolidated into a national entity? This is not necessary. The tea parties reflect the citizen’s concern, the element that is usually missing in our civic life. If there is no expression of the citizen’s concern, there is no limit to the politician’s arrogance, and we have finally awaken to this permanent trend, and the need to vigorously counter it.

The tea party goers I had the pleasure to meet are not animated by a desire to subvert America. They want the American governance system to operate as intended instead of gradually metamorphosing into an omnipotent state, something that will happen as predictably as water going downhill if there isn’t anyone to stop it, nor any deliberate pumping enterprise to make the water go uphill if someone has a good reason for it.

As far as that goes, the degradation and the progressive obesity of our government has reached alarming proportions. This fateful trend is like a corrolary to the law of universal gravity, which pushes everything down, which is also why the Wright brothers are national heroes. Let’s not transform the tea parties into an overgrown entity trying to mirror the mindless excesses of an out-of-control born-again aristocracy. Visualize Barney Frank with an overflowing white wig if you have a hard time following my drift.

Right now, it looks like citizen Palin is going to receive a good fee to deliver a speech that most of us will not hear. Of course this is absurd on the face of it. Either the event turns into a failure, or it opens up, but whatever the outcome of this problematic delivery, it is not something that will determine the energy and the destiny of the tea parties.

Stop your gull-durn fussing you RINOs,DINOs, conservatives, independents, Tea Party people or else you are going to have four more years of Che-Barrack. Who ever can get out there to sound the warning about i.e. massive deficit needs to be heard and the other changes you can not believe.

@3. Scott E: – While the western hemisphere appropriately was focused on the catastrophe unfolding in Haiti these two (G.B. & S.P.) blah, blah, blah’d about their self-absorbed victim complex.

This is funny stuff.

“Focusing” on the catastrophe? How does this do anything other than assuage the guilty conscience(s) of those doing the focusing? And did the earthquake in Haiti somehow obviate the unprecedented level of vitriol that’s been aimed at both Beck and Palin, from every quarter? A ‘victim complex’ implies that one hasn’t actually been actively, destructively, relentlessly victimized. “Victim complex” is not a label that fits either of these two, not by any stretch.

At least you concede that there may be a positive outcome from this in the long run. Something Erickson and Riehl refuse to do. This is all new territory and NO one knows the motivation or intentions of those involved. Must we assume that all of the TPN people are like Obama and his goons? Is their every action to be questioned and ridiculed without knowing the intent? I would assume that Palin has some pretty good advisers and they will be able to handle any unexpected surprises. Back off and let things happen without trying to doom them ahead of time.

@ 6. Mark C. Finley: Reality check
A non-profit organization must be non-political, that is the law.
My god, a fact amongst the emotings; Run away !

Tea Party Nation may be a scam or a gathering of leaders;
Watch what they do, not what they say, to make the distinction.

The TP movement will self-organize, driven by the dropping economy.
It will be less a political machine than an instrument of reform.
To be effective, its leadership will have to make hard choices,
and act on them, as opposed to striving endlessly for consensus.

Short form: If you cannot afford the price of admission, stay home.
Shorter form: If you cannot run with the Big Dogs, stay on the porch.

Sarah: I think you have a case of rampant toxic mold, or perhaps radon gas leaking up the slab, or maybe errant pesticide application. Something about protesting too much and not making logical sense me thinks.

Hey just the same old existential angst, search for meaning, dipping into a diminishing creative swamp, drinking/smoking more than is good for me. I got home to find an e-mail from the Interzone, warning me not to waste valuable time in verbal paradiddle with the likes of a contrarian like you. The entropy of the soul is a constant in humanity, so what’s the problem with hyper-dimensional frolic? You are grinding the grist of soul. My advice: pull yourself out of the muck of righteous self-delusion, try to shine where others can’t make change.

Scott E: You are no more a conservative than you are a Chinaman. And, please, do not have us believe that you actually care one whit about the Haitians: You just want to parade around your “concern” for vanity’s sake. This helps neither this nation nor the Haitians. While what has happened in Haiti is a tragedy , it is immoral for you to misuse it to deflect attention away from issues important to our nation. This cheapens both nations.

Look, I don’t care whether it’s ‘for-profit’ or non-profit. I don’t care if it’s $1000.00 of $500.00 a ticket – I don’t care if the Tea Party Nation or whatever finds out after heir convention that they should have done it differently – we are in unchartered waters with the Marxist and all his comrades in the WH taking over our country and killing the free market. Let’s stick together, no matter what – we believe in freedom and the Constitution, that’s all that matters. Remmeber,one of the Alinsky rules, turn people on the same side against one another – for God’s sake we need BO out of power.

Look, all I’m saying is that I’ve been a straight ticket republican voter for the past 20 years. I’m appalled that so-called “conservatives” want to enlist this women as the voice/face of our party. She’s inarticulate and just doesn’t show all that well. Yet, somehow like a moth to a flame the teaparty folks and others think she’s “it”. Her elevation by Glenn Beck as a goddess just seems to make my skin crawl. I’m sorry, just passing it along – in conversations with others, I’m not alone. I don’t hate her. I wish her well, just wish she wasn’t all we had as a poster-girl for republicans.

Why the lament that one of the tea party organizations is actually behaving honestly and saying it is “for profit”?
501(c)3 corporations (supposedly not for profit) are the biggest scams around with huge salaries, obscene perks, fancy offices and “expense accounts”. Take a look at their budgets and then judge. Let us not become part of the progressive new definition of “smart”. (for those of you lacking in analytical ability, the new Obama administration definition of the word “smart” is actually its antonym, “stupid”.)

I feel for you and your hesitation in admitting you are a lifelong Republican, what with Sarah and Glen and others making grand asses out of themselves and besmirching the reputation of a party that used to have such learned scholars as William Buckley and, well, all of them. What most gullible people, i.e., birthers et al, assume is that all these conspiracies and such being foisted by the likes of Sarah and Glenn must be attended to, it is a question of responsibility and commitment. But this subterfuge (I was going to say “clever subterfuge” but it’s all vagueness and no substance) are the ‘pits, holes, knots, mazes, conundrums, etc.’ to which Sarah and company feel you, the “people” must be obligated to, while they grab for more power and prestige. Yet when therapeutically examined, these ‘compelling things’ like patriotism are our own creation and generally not positive or beneficial, as well as tools used by more slimy fools for ulterior motives it’s best that you or anybody else not see. On the contrary, there seems to be some perversity operating. In the face of some semblance of stability, most people either create the conflict that dogs them or use conflict to gain their filthy lucre. When presented with the idea that they don’t necessarily have to suffer, they scoff and protest…”life is suffering”, or better yet, “Freedom isn’t free”. “Okay,” I respond, “but let’s agree that that is your view and your choice, not an external reality.”

Frankly, if I were going to a tea party event…I would go to a pay for the privilege event rather than the open one at this point. I’ve seen what happens with the media at these events, and the closer we get to an election, the more they will be manhandled and disgarded..

I hope sarah becomes more influential with her stint at FOX and I applaud FOX for hiring her. We want to hear what she has to say. She does not come from the elite, trust fund, yacht, nanny set..she’s you and me and the work a day world. Nice for a change.

The woman cannot breathe without someone measuring it and commenting..silly people.

Welcome to reality – not all conservatives get all wound up about the same stuff. The work of getting it done everyday, paying my employees, making sure the government’s hands only get so deeply into our pockets, family, freinds, life itself.

Carol B. – this interview with Glenn B. should have been a home run. Friendly (slobberingly so) turf. And you would still want to support someone who has dug this deep into history:

BECK: Who is your favorite founder?
PALIN: You know, well, all of them because they came collectively together with so much diverse .
BECK: Bull crap. Who is your favorite?
PALIN: So much diverse opinion and so much diversity in terms of belief, but collectively they came together to form this union…No, and they were led by, of course, George Washington, so he’s got to rise to the top. Washington was the consummate statesman.

Hmm, let me see if I can put this succinctly . . . never mind. DEO already did it at #22. If you are looking for something grander at work in the Palin household, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. When has she ever done anything that didn’t benefit her?

It is starting to look like there are pretty much zero semi independent conservative blogs to look to anymore that have not started to make their beds with the corrupted establishment part of the Republican party. Erick Erickson (Red State), Followed by Dan Riehl (Riehl World) and now Melissa Clouthier (Pajamas Media). If it is not; pre-established, already has its own membership and thus hierarchy, is part and partial to the special interests of Washington, it is not and should not be considered a viable place for a conservative to go, according to thse three ‘conservatives’.

But hey, lets look at how great the establishment is.
1) A major sponsor for CPAC, apparently the only valid place for a conservative to speak according to these ‘conservative’ bloggers is GOProud, an extremist wing of the Republican that is very far from conservative. GOProud’s goals are to institutionalize the degradation of the covenant of marriage and thus the family unit. The core of conservatives is the family unit. A father, mother and some number of children unit is by far the most socially and more importantly, fiscally conservative. After that, you have married couples sans children as conservative. Next up are single working males. Then single males. Followed by single women sans children. Then single women. At the very end of the spectrum of conservative groups, are special interest people who need special treatment to make them feel all warm and good inside, named as anti discrimination laws, but known to be pro discrimination laws. You have blacks and Hispanics on one side (racial minority) and on the other side you have welfare queens, gays, lesbians, transsexuals, bisexuals, pedophiles, beastialists and other groups of deviant behaviors that want to be made mainstream by having laws enacted that say they are natural and welcomed into our society. If you need a law to say that you are normal and welcomed, then you are a freak and very far from conservative. So, what these ‘conservative’ bloggers consider to be good places for a conservative to become legitimate is a place where the least conservative possible groups have a large say in what is talked about. Think about that for a while, GOProud wants to change the social fabric of America, in the exact same way that communism stated was the correct way to destroy a Democratic Capitalist country, by destroying the social fabric of family, and this is what these three think is the best place to show you are a true conservative. Completely unbelievable!

2) Then you have the actual establishment people. Lawyers who have never had a real job who can fast talk themselves out of illegal and immoral situations that they make for themselves. The leader of CPAC makes a pay for play situation that is obviously real, and every last one of these weasels is perfectly happy with his explanation that it just is not so (Who are you gonna believe? Me or your lyin’ eyes?). Tells you all you need to know about how they feel about corruption, since we know exactly how Sarah Palin would feel about corruption.

If these three ‘conservatives’ were really interested in the tea party people, then they would make a stand on the side of Palin, instead of trying to make certain that the stand she did take becomes a bad one by trying to drive away any legitimacy of the group she chose to support with her views. It is easy to sew corruption and it becomes vastly difficult to get rid of once it is part of a group. Palin likely knows that CPAC is close to unsalvageable on the corruption side so long as ‘conservatives’ are willing to allow a corrupted person to head the organization, but also does not want to break Reagan’s commandment of not attacking other conservatives. The best way to do this is to simply marginalize the bad actors and force them out of the system, with no direct attacks. If these ‘conservatives’ really wanted to make the Republican party the party that Tea Partiers would feel welcome, they would marginalize the bad actors and force them out of the party, or at least out of leadership roles in the party. So long as the corrupted officials remain, the Tea Partiers will remain outside the fold. That includes me.

For what it is worth, I like Sarah Palin very much, just like all three of these ‘conservatives’ claim to, but at least I understand why I like Sarah Palin, which is something I doubt the three ‘conservatives’ do. Palin knows the root of what makes government bad. Power, money, corruption and special interests. The first is power, the more power government takes from people and gives to itself, the more money that is required to run the system. The more money in the system, the more special interests want to use that power and money to their advantage. The more special interests that are lobbying for power and funding from an over-sized government, the more corruption that becomes ingrained through back room closed door deals ($2.1m in support from you will lead to our supporting you and thus your company gaining $210M in business).

The way to fix our government is not the way that it became broken, it has to go backwards. You must get rid of the corruption first. When you have uncorrupted officials in power, special interests will learn that they cannot put 1% down on power and funding. This will then lead to people being in positions of power that are not corrupted and will be willing to return the money and power back to the people and the states, where it constitutionally belongs. We the people are entitled to a government that lives within the plain text original meaning of the Constitution of the United States of America and the Amendments at the time of enactment. There is a way in which the constitution can be a living document, and that method is written in the constitution, amendments.

Go ahead and keep supporting the corrupted actors in the Republican party by giving them legitimacy and knocking down potential new groups that have the chance to start with no corruption. It will lead to exactly where we have been in the past. I for one would rather start with an uncorrupted group that has a chance to grow and attract the uncorrupted people from the corrupted groups. I think Palin has that same idea.

I loved your comment. Now, it’s time for you to think it over and apply to yourself…

“Yet when therapeutically examined, these ‘compelling things’ like patriotism are our own creation and generally not positive or beneficial, as well as tools used by more slimy fools for ulterior motives it’s best that you or anybody else not see. On the contrary, there seems to be some perversity operating. In the face of some semblance of stability, most people either create the conflict that dogs them or use conflict to gain their filthy lucre. When presented with the idea that they don’t necessarily have to suffer, they scoff and protest…”life is suffering”, or better yet, “Freedom isn’t free”. “Okay,” I respond, “but let’s agree that that is your view and your choice, not an external reality.”

Apply this logic about the need to suffer and the politicians who get more power by claiming there is a crisis, and they just need more of our money and more regulations – to the liberals in charge of this country. You can apply the phrase “let’s agree that that is your view and your choice, not an external reality” to the entire philosophy of liberalism, and it’s ideas about minimum wages, compulsory government pension system, government run medical care, affirmative action and the like….

You know where did all this hostility come from, the Tea Party Nation has been around for a while, so was this convention, You think she didn’t research
this, before committing to it, unlike the McCain campaign. She is hyper cautious of everything she does, she doesn’t have the same trust in people
and who can blame her. She went on the McCain ticket, she was stabbed in the back by the ‘brilliant’ gurus, although she found quite a following in the lower 48. She tried to manage the state, after the elections, but nils carborundum, for those who know Latin, they tried to bankrupt her. They set
about to sabotage all her initiatives. She held the line on the stimulus, that was the source of one of her ethics complaints, and in the end, her
efforts were for not, the legislature saddled the state with a one size fits all, building code, contingent on stimulus funds.

She set up a PAC, their was a stream of misleading leaks, she stopped that, but not before they had drained a portion of her contributions. She brokered a major energy deal, it was virtually ignored in the idiocy of Letterman. She then decided that it was important to leave behind a teamDespite everything, she still even after her resignation, decided to play on the public stage, using the tools that best fit her situation, Facebook and the occasional Op Ed, and the book,

i too fear the of days if Palin becomes the “voice” of me and my ilk. she is emotional and far from thinking. i really have nothing left to say. those that support her are emotional people, but intellectual morons. there needs to be a balance. think a little bit. it is obvious. she is not a leader. if her Fox stint leads her to a national campaign, I, unfortunately will never watch Fox News again. ever. period.
God Bless George Will, Buckley and any human who actually cares about thought. anyone who supports Palin is far from that and should be done in a la shirley jackson. I am a rabid conservative and I hate Palin supporters as much as I hate Pelosi. thank you for destroying America.

Thirty comments, half of them attacking Palin, without a single example of any comment to support the thesis. Our president of all 57 states and his VP are given passes for their obviously stupid remarks.

What’s with the attacks on a political commentator who neither holds nor is a candidate for public office?

The last time I checked, private citizens had the right to speak wherever they wanted. I suggest PJM moderate its comments better. #30 is a prime example. How is she a fraud, and why the insult?

I don’t want to underestimate Palin, since I have always said that she had the potential to grow, but so far, the Fox stint is not working for her. Whatever her “it” quality is, it’s not coming through as a tv talking head. She is an authentic something, I’m just not sure what yet. She is certainly not a quick study. There are plenty of people here who seem to love her for what she represents; I’m getting more doubtful about what she is, or is not.

In early America, when local politicians committed criminal acts against the people who elected them, or allowed special interests to plunder the people, vigilante committees formed and things were corrected. It is a tradition illustrated in the modern day Tea Party movement. Americans accept their role as self-governed and independent. In the Old World, such things would be armed rebellions facing the king’s army and blood flows. Not in America, with the exception of a few murderers hung or card cheaters run out of town on a rail with tar and feathers, no one gets hurt, except their feelings and the office they hold. The Tea Party movement fits with American justice. The current American government does not fit with American justice. It promotes injustices on the people they are elected to represent. Claysamerica.com

There is no one in the GOP pool of talent that is close to Sarah’s star power. Her ‘death panel” comment helped drive the debate against ObamaCare. She was the reason I voted for McCain. She will be a King maker and the GOP party had better recognize and support her. When she was being attacked repeatedly during the campaign the GOP “elite” was generally quiet. I am tired of the elite. Most of America is tired of the elite. We’re tired of back rooms, fake smiles and empty words. On top of it they sound like a bunch of whiners. Sarah is recognized as one of us. It scares the hell of the elites on the right and the left. Honesty is scary.

Is that true that CPAC funds RedState and if so, where would I get the info on this?

I have been wondering why on earth these guys are so willing to try and delegitimize the TPN, a possible competitor to CPAC. I was thinking it was because CPAC was willing to let them into the fold of makers and shakers. But if it is because CPAC funds them, that is far worse, much like pay to play.

I think this article may typify the problem conservatives have at the moment. People are judging more than thinking. I’m a conservative, I like Sarah Palin, and I don’t give a rats patoot whether or not she accepts a speaking engagement at a conservative organization.

We need to start working TOGETHER and cut out this ridiculous over-analysis of why so-and-so does what. If I take a speaking fee to help motivate and educate conservatives to spread the conservative word, is that a bad thing? Let’s look bigger picture and make sure we are all pulling the rope in the same direction.

Remember the scene in “Finding Nemo” where all of the fish are in the net and freaking out, and Nemo gets them to pull in the same direction? They eventually break the net and are freed. THIS is what we need to do, and I’m trying to be Nemo.

Hmm. I just looked at both sites and CPAC is asking $750 for their full deal and National Tea Party $549 for their full deal.

Did anyone do any research? Maybe NTP reduced their pricing after reading this post? Dunno. But, on the surface this isn’t good news on the basic fact checking front.

Isn’t the John Birch Society a co-sponsor of the 2010 CPAC convention? Funny that got left out of your list of questionables.

I like non-profits. Have even led one and worked for two others. But, I don’t have anything against for profit groups. In fact, I thought the conservative take was that profit was good and allows people who make it to, among other things, give to non-profits.

But, maybe I’m out of step with the current “learned” conservative class who are impressed by creases in candidate pants.

Never once did I ever hear Palin say she wants to lead this movement.She allways responds she does not have to be the top dog of it or any party to help affect controlling a gone wild gov.Palin has caused it to sell out and draw worldwide attention.This will strengthen this movement by leaps and bounds.I think her speaking at it is a huge win for the tea party movement.I hope during the tax day protest April 15th and at 9-12 she speaks at both on the steps of the capitol.With a big screen & sound system setup like inaguration day was for O.If she announces that,millions would attend if given months of advance notice.This would take cash to organize.So let them be for profit who cares?They will have many expenses to pay.She is not the leader,she never said she was.However she has every right as a private citizen not running for any office.To speak at any tea party event,if asked too.No one can say she is trying to use this movement(I do not see her name on any 2010 or 12 ticket),but the movement to gain and maintain its steam,sure could use her.You have to acknowledge this one fact.When she speaks there is worldwide intrest.

The medium, unlike Macluhan, is not the message, the message is the important
part, empowerment, self determination, the idea that one person can make a difference .one suspects that is the main point. and giving press credentials to Politico or other mainstream sources, doesn’t seem the solution to the problem. Politico, notably having distorted every tea party and Palin opinion, is now huffing and puffing they weren’t invited. In retrospect, Reynolds should have been invited, I don’t know the reason for that. When she spoke in Wisconsin her remarks were taken out of context, when she appeared at Ft. Hood, a special proscription was made so she couldn’t make any remarks, since they would be regarded as political.

As a lifelong democrat, I can honestly say that Sarah Palin is making alot of sense to me. The tea party movement is something that I have found myself agreeing with more and more. I would like to hear Palin speak before such a gathering so see how this movement is going to go.

The way I see it, Palin could have tried to take over this movement and use it for her own gain during the summer. However, she let the movement grow on its own and wisely stayed out of it.

I imagine that after Palin has spoken before this group it won’t be too long before we see other politicians give legitimacy to this movement in the same way Palin has.

The democrat party is imploding from the inside out, and I’m afraid it will take a hard nosed candidate like Palin who is not afraid to fight both the Republican party and Democrat party to get them to clean their own parties of the muck they have been filling he stalls with.

I just hope Fox livestreams her speach from it.They rock.I do not care if a groups for profit or non profit.America was built on profits.Is the lefty green peace movement non profit?How about the move on .org movement?There are dozens of leftist movements that are all for profit raising cash to push their agenda.Their agenda,big gov,big spending,big corruption,big debt,big taxes,big control,big unemployment,big entitlements,all a big mess heading for a big collapse.Palin wants to help stop this bus from reaching that cliff.So let Palin who has name recognition everywhere on earth dam near,give a big speaches and lets hope theres many more.Shes getting the message out to those who need to hear it,the message most other voices do not reach.I like her on Fox as long as she doesnt over do it.A few spots per month,one weekend special program per month would be great.When you see them everyday they lose their appeal and become boring.Its that why go see her at a rally?I can turn on my TV and there she is.Look what being on TV everyday did to Obama.

This comes back to some of the concerns I have had with the Tea Party Movement. We had two in town, each one had it’s own talk radio station promoting it, and both acted like the other didn’t exist. What the heck. I though the movement was to bring all conservatives together for results. I have also seen some of our electeds getting on the bandwagon and trying to “out conservative” the others. I am getting very scared that our once grassroots movement is being led or used by those with every bit of an agenda as those parasites that are in office now.

As far as the convention in Nashville is concerned, I was excited when I found out about it as I had plans to be in Nashville that weekend for another seminar at the Marriott just down the pike from Opryland. How stupid was I to think that I would just slip out of my seminar and go down and catch a little of the National Convention. Heck no…..not at those prices. But what I have read here makes it all come into focus.

Are we being “played”? Is the answer for all to move to a acreage compound with my wife, dog, and weapons, and to hell with what the “liberals” and “conservatives” want to do to those left?

I’m glad Sarah is shunning the John Bircher/Sleazy Keene CPAC. I hope she will shun this farce in Nashville. Judson owns something called the Tea Party Nation. What could go wrong? I hope he’s invested a lot of his own money in this mirage. Bankruptcy is such a learning experience.

First and foremost, unless someone has seen the financial records of any Teaparty group, then you don’t know if they are making a profit anyway. And I doubt you have. Assuming and then making a whole arguement against Palin, based on assumptions only makes one look like an…
It takes money to organize, put “parties” on. Let’s just see if they have any big money left over afterwards.
BTW-Palin is not getting paid for her speaking engagement to come.

Good piece and I share your questioning Palin’s decision to blow off CPAC for the Nashville thing. I have been hearing odd things about it since November. I am not surprised to seeing it fizzling. How many other sponsors are going to be pull out before it happens.

Surely it would be a better idea to spend the $1000 or so dollars to get there and stay on tea party events closer to home. For a grassroots event it pretty damn expensive. I hate to see grassroots people being taken for a ride with little to get in return.

Not surprising that people are trying to milk the tea party movement for cash however. Good to see people are paying attention and calling it what it is to warn others.

Scott E: Well I could say that you are the one that is “jaded”, but this would not really be quite true–you are faking even that. You are moby; your are not a Republican or a Conservative. Your instantaneous, knee-jerk resort to sarcasm and attempts at humiliation, and of the most juvenile sort I might add, and reliance on ad hominem fallacies betray you. Above all, your evasions of real points and failure to honorably and squarely address real Conservatives testifies to this, as does your bizarre notion that you are on the “leading edge” of some sort of “political avant garde”. Your use of language and rhetoric is straight out of the leftist playbook,

Your response to me is off point and off pitch, and embarrassingly so. You are a Leftist posing as a “Conservative”. Few things could be clearer.

Imagine that; an article that second guesses/bashes Sarah Palin. YAWN…..

Meanwhile, Palin continues to be spot on in her criticisms of this lousy obama administration. Face it, if we’d start doing the things she suggests, the economy would start expanding, tax revunues would rise (while taxes on people would be reduced), and the military and intelligence community could untie the one hand behind their back and fight the war on terror to win.

If you haven’t figured out that SP is just out to make money, you deserve what you get.

Thanks to Fox we can see the worthless person she is as a political figure. I get the feeling that the Fox pundits don’t like her and by exposing herself she will self destruct. Clever guys: make money and ratings while eliminating the competition.

my ad hominem fallacies? interesting…. and active imagination you have. Are you working under the requirements for conservatism are that I MUST love Sarah Palin, CPAC, Teaparty’s, and the John Birch Society?

“53. Vernon Baker:
I am getting very scared that our once grassroots movement is being led or used by those with every bit of an agenda as those parasites that are in office now.”

You should go to riehlworld and see how much they respect grassroots independent partiers. I get the distinct feeling that Dann, Erick and this chick think they own Tea Party movement.

from Dan Riehl
“And that grassroots is who people like Eric Erickson, Mellissa Clouthier and me are. So, the Palin fanatics can take their DC insider crap and shove it right back up where it came from in the first place. I couldn’t care less in that regard.

Comments closed, as I’m tired of reading some of you idiots carry on when you don’t have a freaking clue what you’re babbling about.”

I get the feeling that Sarah Palin is not the target, but the Tea Party groups trying to have leadership that does not include preestablished Republicans. I think that these three are thinking that the Republican party has a right to claim ownership to this group. I guess they have as much reason to state this as China has to say they own Taiwan or Mexico has to say that California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas belong to them. If we wanted Republican branding, we would just simply state we are Conservative Republican, unfortunately the big tent policies of places like CPAC have made any quality of branding of the Republican party a moot point. Many of the people who are joining Tea Parties are apolitical, and do not want or need to be dragged into some fold and led off to do the bidding of some group of insider politicians and their pundits.

You may be GOP, but your not a conservative. If you were, you’d do some homework on Sarah and all the other GOP hopefuls out there and conclude like any sensible person that Sarah is what the GOP needs at this time. They need credibility, honesty, someone they can trust.

What the hell is wrong with all you “conservatives” who attack Sarah Palin? Are you secretly working for Obama? I love it when everyone says SP will ensure four more years of Obama, cause the current GOP’s doing a heckuva job.

NONE of your clown candidates — the Huckster (Michael Dukakabee), Mittens, RuPaul — are going to take down Obama. Hell they can’t go five minutes without sounding like a damn liberal!

I hear Newtered wants to run in 2012, oh yeah that’ll do the job……………As for the current Senate GOP that’s holding together, let’s see how long that lasts. All Obama has to do is
buy one of those suckers like Snowe, McLame, or whoever off like he did Landrieu or Nelson, and he’ll have his precious little government-care (which will ensure the health of the government).

So continue to put your trust in your Democrat-lite “educated conservatives” (you know, the same ones that got trounced in 06 and 08), and maybe, like Steve Sch(m)idt, you can blame Sarah Palin when you get run over by a mo-ped.

Hmmm…….. How best to respond? Are you going to imply that you could read a lisp, or possibly a touch of negro dialect in my writing style, or some RINO-styling in my phrasing.

You won’t.

I’m bonafide, but have managed to retain my sensibility when those on threads like this swoon over the pretty brunette from Wasilla. You can call me a troll if you prefer ad hominem attacks, but you can’t fix dumb. Better reel it in folks because you will face up to the fact, after you blow another election, that when you cross over and offend 51% of the voting populace you lose. And you’ll get there sooner or later – just as Obama will now that he has forgotten the same thing.

I think Sarah P. is on the right track with Fox. Fringe right folks may not be odd and perceived as un-electable but their attention getting notions lend themselves very much toward the entertainment/fund raising side of the business. The left has their own, and has for years (most of you know the names), so why not a place in the republican party for the loony right. I just do not understand some republicans not accepting Palin or Limbaugh types. They should keep her on side as she will be very useful at the crunch times later this year and the run up for 2012. And I think any candidate that gets her endorsement ..early.. will be tough to beat.. Dont you agree?

Whatever happens in terms of this or that organization or leader, one thing is certain and will not change–

we don’t need a leader to know how to vote. We don’t need a leader to tell us what we already know and believe. We didn’t need a leader to gin up all the tea party sentiment– all we needed was a Junior Stalin or Mao to remind us what we stand AGAINST.

And we got him. Obamao. If he were a it more sneaky, he might have gotten away with a lot more. But he couldn’t resist the lefty bumrush, and he will now pay the price.

Nobody cares about Judson or TPN or CPAC or whatever. That’s for politically involved folk. Voters only care that conservatism get a good word from their candidates, and that the other guys LOSE.

Conservatives unite – please. Do you really want BO and his Chicago radicals in the WH until 2016? No one’s asking anyone to become obsessed with Palin – in fact at the tea party rallies I have attended we didn’t have one leader – it really is the people who are leading and the Dems know it- that’s why they’re pitting Repubs against “teabaggers.” The leftist mainstream media are obsessed with Palin in order to destroy her. If she is not like the elitist intellectuals, if she speaks differently and acts differenly than the usual politicians I say that’s the biggest compliment – if Obama is considered smart and presidential please, give me Palin-he didn’t do crap in Chicago and the Senate except vote for TARP, vote for more money for the Iraq war and schmooze with Rod, Rahm, Dan, David and slumlord Valerie – Palin went after corruption in her own party, had an 80% approval rating, went up against the oil companies who were sitting on land for decades – who the hell needs a con man who can deliver a speech from a teleprompter and act arrogant – I don’t care what she “sounds” like – look at her record. Haven’t we had enough words, only empty speeches by frat boys and radicals? At this point we should be looking at one thing, does the person stand by the Constitution and the people?

Unfortunately, given the nature of some of the people who are going to read this, I have to stop here and say I’m a big Palin fan. I like her a lot. I’d gladly support her. I want her in federal office of some kind. And I think John McCain could have picked no finer person to be his running mate. Frankly, the results of 2008 might have been different had the positions been reversed.

Got that? Unfortunately this statement of support is not good enough for some of Palin’s most ardent supporters and I think that is harmful to Governor Palin and to having a real conversation about the GOP, conservatives, and where we head politically in general.

I understand that a great many of Palin’s supporters, myself included, have felt on the defensive for a while. The media genuinely hates this woman. The left is more revolted by Palin than they ever were by Bush.

Seriously: people need to quit following the example of The Left Wing Media and STOP hyperventilating over Palin’s every action and utterance as if it might be her last. That includes exaggerating simple discussions that other conservatives might initiate about her activities. Erickson’s original critique was mostly voicing those who’d been complaining to him. Clearly he didn’t bank on the unhinged reaction he got from some folks.

Why Palin chose this venue is a fair question. But that’s as far as it goes. It’s not a fair criticism unless you know all the facts and can prove there’s something inherently wrong with a for-profit like TPN. In all the heavy breathing about this topic, I have yet to read anything by anyone who has a complete handle on either.

If people want to criticize, rather than ragging on Palin or Erickson – or anyone else who’s actively involved in the political process – perhaps they should look a little closer to home.

Conservative political organizing has been absolutely nowhere for a generation. That fault, for better or worse, lies squarely on the shoulders of the grass roots, Taxpayers, working stiffs and patriots who’ve done nothing in any practical sense to slow down socialism’s long march. This site is a great example of that: it comprises 99 parts whining about BHO’s inept administration, the socialist DEMagogues, and the GOP’s failures, and 1 part active promotion and organization of effective political energy to restore the Republic. It doesn’t look like that ratio is going to flip anytime soon, either.

Socialist organizing, OTOH, has been going full steam for 70 years while most folks stood around yelling “Conspiracy Theorist!!!” at any one of us who dared to point out its motives, actions, successes and likely future targets. That’s why the Republic is presently threatened.

Building effective political organizations is going to involve differences of opinion – like the spat between Smith and Judson. As far as I’ve been able to determine, Smith decided to air this dirty laundry publicly because his feewings got hurted. I see lots quoted up above from Smith, but nothing from Judson. At least Ed Morrissey, who seems to be far more even-handed in analyzing this issue, had the integrity to update his post with a statement from Judson.

If the Republic is to survive, constitutional-conservative political organization must continue. LOOKING FOR REASONS for infighting – simply because one can’t think of a pro-active topic to write about – isn’t going to help that goal. In fact, it’s precisely what the socialists want. If you doubt that, just read the posts by the usual leftists in this thread.

Bottom line – it’s all about the money for Republicans. Nothing you can do, or claim to want, will stop that. In thee words of your exalted political paramour, Sarah Palin, you’re headed for “fractions” in the Republican party. But you’ll always have this . . . “Whatever happens is good for the Republican party.” Me, I’ll be at the Tea Party Convention.

Mark@ 6, you’re not exactly right about that. 501-c4s are both non-profit and allowed to engage in substantial lobbying and political action — that’s how most comparable political organizations and activist groups operate. 501-c3s can engage in what is defined as “issue-based” but “non-partisan” activism, including distributing voter guides (so long as all candidates are polled). One big difference lies in the ability of donors to write off their donations on their taxes. You can do that with an “issue-only” 501-c3 — I don’t actually know about the c-4 declaration.

And that will become important as people with deep pockets come to the movement: they will want the c-3 to exist so they can get maximum tax benefits from helping out with infrastructure-and-organizing related growth. These things do take money if they are to proceed beyond a certain point.

What I don’t understand about this particular organizing dilemma is this: why don’t the organizers have both a c-3 and a c-4, a very ordinary way of operating (individual candidates then set up PACS for specific elections). I love seeing people come into their own political activism, but surely there are local, politically experienced people who could give them such basic advice. This is organizing 101. The fact that it isn’t happening might — might — raise questions.

Amazing. The corporate media have been covering this issue for over a week, and this is the first time I’ve seen it mentioned here. I suppose you were waiting for it to blow over. But Palin wants her money, and you bozos will make sure she gets it.

I have a couple of concerns. By attaching herself to this for-profit outfit, Sarah Palin undermines her standing with her very constituents. Many tea party folks are shaking their heads after being the same people to hold up signs supporting Palin. Why not donate time at the Tax Day Tea Party? Why associate with a guy with questionable tea party cred?

And these questions beg a bigger question: Who is giving Sarah Palin advice on these matters? Certainly, it does not seem that people tied into the grassroots organizations are being sought for advice.

Hilarious. Why is this power-mad, fame-seeking, completely empty-headed, I’ll say whatever you want me to and speak wherever you tell me to schemer not consulting her grassroots advisers. Yes, its a question for the ages. You people are hilarious. There is a great amount of well-deserved mockery of Obama’s supporters for their inability to see him for the self-interested power player that he is. That is more than undercut by the fact that you idiots are completely blind to your own leaders’ ethical and moral failures.

So, how you feeling about Palin? Now, a few days after her debut on Fuk Snooze, that queasy feeling should be setting in. She sounds, well, a confused and uncertain – and uneducated. You could see it in her eye s when beck asked here, “Who’s your favorite founding father?”

“You know, well, all of them, because they came collectively together with so much, so much diverse and so much diversity in terms of belief, but collectively they came together — and they were led by, of course George Washington, so he’s got to rise to the top.”

Clearly, the woman has no idea who the founding fathers were, could only name one (and was hoping against hope that Washington actually WAS a founding father). This woman is a bimbo. The majority of Americans see it and know it. The hardcore right wing extremists don’t see it, because they are blinded by victimhood, obsessed with being offended. Take Haiti – people here at PJM slam George Clooney for organizing a relief event, and yet they praise Rush for saying American relief efforts are little more than meals on wheels, that we already donate to Haiti because of our income tax,and if you do donate, don’t do it through the White House because Obama will steal your money. Or that hound of hell Pat Robertson blaming the earthquake on Haiti’s pact with the devil.

Mr Phillips’ sin was misleading many people into providing free labor and donating money to a for-profit corporation. I don’t care how much you like the free-market, fraud is still fraud.

Why is Palin associated? What a stupid question, for the same reason that she’s talking to loggers and a bowling convention. They paid her to be there. Why did she pass up CPAC? Because they don’t pay speakers.

For those who say to be a conservative is to love Palin. Get a life. I’m first Christian and second Conservative and Palin falls very, very, ver short in both areas. As a Christian, I MUST vote for the person that I think is the best Christian leader, if that means someone who can’t beat Obama, then that is how God has made it. I will never use the excuse that “he/she can beat Obama” as a reason to support someone who lives a life that is a bad testimony to their claimed Christian beliefs.

(1) Palin has a fundamental problem with keeping her story straight and
(2) As a Christian, Palin should be putting her family before all else, yet she recently once again hauled her toddler out for public display for a few more $$$ after hauling him all over the country side in the midst of the H1N1 flu season.

Finally, the “Palin is one of us” is so old. In my area, a family of five typically earns less than $60k, the Palins were “struggling” to get by on a quarter of a million annually BEFORE all this started -AND- had guaranteed free healthcare for everyone except Palin herself –AND– were crammed into a 3000 sqft McMansion while Todd pursued the extremely expensive hobby of snow machine racing. Now they’re building their second McMansion and struggling to get by on millions.

That is not “one of us” in my area not by a long shot. The national average income is $40k, that means more than 1/2 of this country earns less than $40k (before the 2008/2009 recession). Palin would have no clue as to how to raise even a small family of three on $40, yet people do in my area all the time. She is not “one of us” and never has been. She’s just very good at saying what people want to hear.

“Rush for saying American relief efforts are little more than meals on wheels, that we already donate to Haiti because of our income tax”

Miss all those hundreds of millions we gave to Haiti during Clinton? If not for Rush, those would be hundreds of BILLIONS under Mr. “700 million is potentially a lot of money”.

“Get a life. I’m first Christian and second Conservative and Palin falls very, very, ver short in both areas.”

Oh she’s DEFINITELY no Michael Dukakabee that’s for sure……………..(that’s rolling of eyes for those of you in Rio Linda)

“(1) Palin has a fundamental problem with keeping her story straight and
(2) As a Christian, Palin should be putting her family before all else, yet she recently once again hauled her toddler out for public display for a few more $$$ after hauling him all over the country side in the midst of the H1N1 flu season.”

“She is not “one of us” and never has been. She’s just very good at saying what people want to hear”

Funny, that sounds an awful lot like the current president. But hey, you go for Huckster(Dukakabee), RuPaul, or Mittwitt if it mkaes you feel better, that just means four more years of The Great Off-White Nope. You’ll have plenty more years to get by on $40